BOYS SOCCER: Jairo Borja sparking Torrington boys' success

Published 12:00 am, Sunday, October 7, 2012

As a second-generation Equadorian born in New York City, he's lived all but his first eight months in Torrington. Nevertheless, the gene base offers exotic good looks of a sort soccer fans associate with some of the world's best players, many from South America.

The look is a first clue of a soccer gene base -- a hint that this athlete might come from a background, culture and geography in which soccer is a consuming passion.

"My whole family plays," he grins. "Uncles, aunts, my Dad."

Jairo's father, Angel, had many offers as a talented player in Equador.

"He could have started at the academy, but his parents needed him on the farm," says Jairo in a family history reminiscent of the budding days of American sports last century. Angel, now 58, still plays pickup games at Alvord Park.

The drive to play soccer goes far deeper than the exotic look.

"I've dreamed of playing at a high level since I was small," he says.

He remembers kicking a soccer ball around at age three. By eight, he played in regular pickup games with his family. ("I learned a lot," he says.) At 12, he joined the Aejax premier team in Bristol, staying until he was a sophomore at Torrington.

That year, Borja, whose older brother Franklin played for Torrington High School before him, burst onto the Red Raider soccer field.

"He surprised a lot of people as a sophomore," says Mike Fritch Jr., then in his first year as head coach. "He scored at least 10 goals."

Borja gives much of the credit to then-senior-midfielder Brandon Conforte for getting the ball to him when and where he needed it.

Last year, following the graduation of many of those players who supported him and the arrival of a core of starting sophomores, things changed for Borja.

"He struggled when everyone relied on him," said Fritch.

Part of it was thinking he had to do too much on his own; part of it was pure style going back to his roots.

"The style I grew up with was more dribbling and fancy plays," says Borja.

Last year, the knock was "too much dribbling." He tried to hold the ball through multiple defenders, then, more often than not, lost it instead.

The team made the Class L state tournament, but a struggling Borja surrounded by talented but inexperienced players turned the previous year's 9-6-1 into 6-9-1, just enough to qualify.

Before this season began, Coach Fritch made a major decision. He switched his most technically-proficient player from forward to center midfield -- Brandon Conforte's old job.

The results are nothing short of spectacular.

"He's come a long way in the last couple of years," says Fritch. "He's become more of a leader."

"I learned to play more simple," Borja grins.

This year, instead of trying to do everything himself once he gets the ball, Borja ensures the play goes through him to get where it needs to be. The results -- 7-1 before a huge clash with 7-0 Watertown Friday night.

Thanks to Borja's talents with the ball and vision of the field, Red Raider scorers pop up all over the field, up and down the ranks of a deep team that Derby coach Eric McGrath called the best he'd seen in the NVL seven games into the season.

Borja's role as traffic director and sometime-scorer has turned him into a consummate leader, on and off the field. His appreciation for teammates' talents has grown right along with the role.

"Before, I was always a step ahead," Borja says. "Now, everyone gets better at the same pace."

In the end, it's a classic case of "less is much, much more."

"It took a couple of games for him to learn that, when we work through him, everything happens," smiles Coach Fritch, satisfied that Borja's and the team's success mushroomed with that concept.

Borja's dreams of playing soccer at a high level began long ago. This year's appreciation of new roles and solid teammates bring the next level close enough to touch.